The Houston City Council is expected to vote on a proposal to install anywhere from 75 to 125 digital kiosks throughout the city Wednesday.
The Ike Smart City kiosks will connect visitors to events, local businesses and services near them, including mass transit and free Wi-Fi.
All kiosks would be installed in the city's rights-of-way.
Part of the main discussion during a city council meeting Wednesday was making sure that council members would be involved in the placement of the kiosks.
"These are interactive kiosks. It's a part of the innovative technology that we are exploring," Mayor Sylvester Turner said. "Just like Dallas. Dallas is moving to put in 300 interactive kiosks, the same that we are talking about here. These work very well, for example, for transit-oriented development."
Not everyone is on board with the idea.
One detail of the proposal that has the city talking is that approving it would require amending the city's existing sign code.
Amending the code would end Houston's 40-year ban on the construction of new billboards.
Scenic Houston released a statement saying in part, "Nothing in this proposal warrants selling off our public spaces, much less the going into business with the billboard industry and putting intrusive digital billboards on the sidewalk in front of people's homes and businesses."
The organization also raises privacy concerns and questions just how much money the city will make from advertising.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Elissa Rivas
Quelle/Source: ABC13, 05.05.2021
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